St. Mary the Virgin, Welney

page created Feb 2005, amended/updated
Monday, 04 January 2016

The Parish Church of Welney, officially St. Mary the Virgin but commonly called simply "St.
Mary's" is situated on the west side of Main Street, accessed by a bridge over the
Old Croft River and surrounded by an extensive churchyard/ graveyard.

Built in 1847/48 by Jeremiah Andrews to a design by JC Buckler
in typically Victorian Gothic
steep-roofed style, it replaced a small
brick Chapel to the south-east and was was part of a
large development comprising school, shoolmaster's house and almshouses for six poor
widows, all largely funded by the charity of
William Marshall, Welney's generous
benefactor.

Two pieces of land for the new Church
and almshouses were donated, one by Peter
Huddleston and his wife Elizabeth, the
other by William Lee.

The Church is within the Diocese of Ely and in 1995 became part of a 'United Benefice' with Manea and
Christchurch. Since 2011 the benefice has been linked with the neighbouring United Joint
Benefice of Doddington with Benwick and Wimblington (created in 1997). The two Benefices
retain their own identity and administration but now share a joint website showing details of
all services at each of the six churches. Links to all at bottom of page.

Services are held here on the 2nd and 4th Sundays each month; average attendance is 5
people. The United Benefice is currently without a full time priest and seeking a new
incumbent - see link to 'profile' at bottom right.

If you've visited this page before you may need to "refesh" the page
to see the latest version version

Satellite view by Google

RECTORS

1848-1862

Rev Wm Gale Townley

1862-1872

Rev Wm Hilton Hutchinson

1872-1899

Rev Ed Russell Wilford

1899-1938

Rev Herb Hignett Wilford

1938-1940

Rev Canon AtkinsRev Rigg (Curate)

1940-1957

Rev A.B. Johnston

1958-1969

Rev H.J.W. Law

1969-1974

Rev Wm Tempest Hodgson

1974-1978

Father Jack Tofts

1979-1981

Rev Herbert Mountfield

1982-1986

Rev Anthony Bennett

1986-1990

Rev David Spencer

1990-1993

Rev Hugh Gamble Reid

1993-1995

Interregnum

1995-2003

Rev Sheila Tooke

2003-2007

Interregnum

2007-2015

Rev Kevin Fitzgibbon

2015-

interregnum

White's Directory 1854
lists Rev Arthur Wellington Roper as curate

Church history

The following table is based largely on detailed notes made in 1998 by the late
Ken Sorenson who spent many weeks of research and travelled extensively to
various
reference libraries.
I have made a few additions and updates and noted the sources where
known below the table. Knowing Ken, I have no doubt of the accuracy of his notes
even when sources are not stated.
A similar table is included in the Church information leaflet.

year

note

c1100

Norman church built, a small brick edifice near the current
entrance gates

1440

John Bayker, curate in charge of the "Chapel of St.Mary in
Welney, died

2

1534

the Reformation and (first?) foundation of the Church of
England

c1550

Chapel built to the SE of the present Church, where
cremation memorials are now situated

1642

Records started of Baptisms

1653

Records started of Marriages and Burials.

1846

Act of Parliament seperated Welney from Upwell St.Peters.
The intention seems to have been to split Upwell into three livings (the
other being Christchurch) on the death of the then incumbent,
Rev.William Gale Townley.

1847

work started on building new Church

1848

new Church consecrated

1862

Rev Townley died

1864

Welney Rectory built

1874

Organ installed

1887

Reredos installed to mark Queen Victori's Golden Jubilee

1907

Churchyard extended. (consecrated 1908)

1932

Transfer of advowson from Charles Evelyn Townley to Bishop
of Ely. (Previously, Welney had been in the Diocese of Norwich)

1950

Electricity installed

1951

electric organ blower installed

1963

central heating installed

1970

'Pluarlity' of Welney and Christchurch parishes

5

1978

Rectory sold, re-named Marifa Lodge

1985

Church rewired and 8 new lamps fitted.

5

1990

nine pews removed from rear of church; font moved to SW
corner of nave;SW vestry converted to a kitchen area; toilet installed under
stairs

5

1995

'United Benefice' formed joining Welney and Christchurch
with Manea. Major repairs made to St. Mary's

5

1997

sound system installed

5

1999

two choir pews removed from chancel

5

2005

Roof repairs completed. All slates removed; South side of
nave re-covered with old slates, north side new slates. Chancel new slates
both sides. New gutters and down pipes fitted, and roof insulated. Bell
removed for repairs

5

2015

November: access bridge parapets rebuilt

Notes:

1

The Victoria History of the
Counties of England.A History of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, Vol IV , Ed:
R.B.Pugh, 1953

2

Upwell - History of a Fenland Village by Richard Jeans, 1987

3

An Historical Account of the Ancient Town and Port of
Wisbech in the Isle of Ely, in the County of Cambridge and circumjacent
Towns and Villages, by William Watson, 1827

4

History of the Church in Upwell, G.S.Smith, 1986

5

Pauline Aisthorpe (Churchwarden/Benefice Secretary?)

top, east window and reredos
centre, choir pews each side of chancel - removed in 1999.
below, the Holditch organ

According to a report in the Wisbech Advertiser in September 1848, the church was

"fitted
with open seats and capable of holding 400 persons, with a gallery at the west end for 120 children."

People, particularly children, were much smaller in those days!

I believe that 120
was also the number of pupils the school was designed for.

An organ by the London firm of G.M. Holdich was installed in 1874 with money donated by
parishioners, and the tiled reredos below the east window was added in 1887 funded by friends of the Rector, to mark
Queen Victoria's 50th anniversary of her reign.

In 1907 more land to the west was aquired (paid for by Marshall's Charity) to extend the
Churchyard (consecrated June 1908). Electricity was installed in 1950 (and a year later an electric organ blower)
and
(oil-fired) radiator central heating in 1963.

In 1990 a kitchen was built into what had been the south west vestry, and a toilet installed under the stairs in the north west corner. The rearmost
nine pews were removed to make room for a meeting area with tables and chairs.

During 2004-2005, the roof was exensively repaired and insulated. Old slates re-used on
south roof; new slates fitted on north side, and both sides of chancel roof. New guttering
and downpipeswere fitted, and bell removed for repair.

c1950. Note row of cottages at left, later demolished to build Taymor Place; also trees behind and to the right of the church, later removed.
June 2005. scaffolding during roof repairs

December 2009. Whatever the season or weather, the church is a glorious site.

Simon Knott came here in August 2005 as part of his endevour to record all of Norfolk's
churches. Having visited nearly 850 of them (and many churches elsewhere, too), he knows a
thing or two about them, and described St. Mary's thus:

"It sits in a long graveyard, surreally close to a water tower, and is the very perfection of west Norfolk coursed carstone, the
most ambitious of all 19th century Norfolk churches in this medium. It has recently been reroofed, giving the
exterior a crispness in the well-maintained graveyard. The inside is curious, because the church is sinking into the soft
Fen soil, more on the south side than the north. As a consequence, the middle of the nave is a good 12 inches higher than the outer walls. The view east is of a
delicious Victorian gothic extravaganza, Thomas Wilmhurst's enamel painting of Joshua Reynold's Charity in the east window, a rich, tiled 1880s sanctuary below.
Also painted are the imposing decalogue boards either side of the chancel arch that build to a pleasing if meaningless blind window surmounting the east end of the
nave. Looking west, there is a fine gallery, which must be contemporary with the proto-ecclesiological east end, placing this building on the very cusp of the revival of
medievalism in the 19th century."

(photos each side by the webmaster, Peter Cox, Feb 2013)

east window with painting

looking west from Chancel Arch to gallery. Originally, pews for 400 people plus 120
children in Gallery.

Commandments I-IV (1-4)

For those not familiar with the term "decalogue" in Simon's description above (as I wasn't) it means the Ten
Commandments.

Apparently in 1560 Queen Ellizabeth 1st decreed that the Commandments be written on boards
displayed at the east end of the chancel in [Anglican] Churches.

Here in St. Mary's Welney, the commandments are shown on the top two boards on the Chancel
Arch.

Below them are two more boards with the words of the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles Creed,
which were often felt to be ‘very fit companions’ for the Commandments. No doubt very
useful too for those who couldn't remember the words - provided they could read!

Commandments V-X (5-10)

the Lord's Prayer

east window with painting

The nave, chancel arch and east window in September 2008. The church had been decorated for a wedding
the following day.
Note the pews arching up towards the centre as described by Simon Knott above; also the central heating pipes each
side of the aisle; and the tablets inset into the side walls commemorating those who died
on active service during the two world wars. (There is no war memoral outside).

The Wisbech Advertiser of 1848 described the east window:

"the centre compartment representing
Faith, Hope and Charity; the Queen's arms and the arms of East Anglia, with the rose and
portcullis .... introduced ... into the two sidelights"

Other reports state that the side panels show the Tudor rose for England, the Royal coat of arms, and the portculis symbolising parliament.
The design of the window was by the Rector at the time, Rev'd W.G. Townley, to symbolise the relationship between Church and State.

the Apostles creed

I would appreciate infprmation of what this represents.

The tiled reredos (below) was added in 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign
show Moses lifting up the serpent to bring healing and striking the rock to
find water.
Due to movement of the
walls, the altar rails became detached
and fillets were made by local carpenter
Steve Kerr c2004 to bridge the gaps.

bell and bell turret in 2013

The Church guide-book says there were originally two bells in a turret over the Chancel
arch, one dated 1613 the other blank, but by 1892 there was only one. From my
photo on left there is no sign that a second bell existed in this turret (sometimes
known as a bell-cote) so maybe it was rebuilt when one bell was removed. Which remains
is not recorded.

In November 2015 the parapets of the access bridge were demolished prior to rebuilding,
giving a very temporary glimpse of the original arch (the river now runs through a
concrete pipe). I don't know whether the bridge is contemporary with the Church or
existed previously for access to the earlier Chapel.

old bridge arch

Acknowledgments.
Text based largely on research by the late Ken Sorensen, 1997-1998.
Old photos from our archives.
New ones by Peter Cox, 2008-2015.
And special thanks of course to Simon Knott.

In England, Eccliastical Parishes and the later Civil Parishes are quite different but
often confused.

Information about the history of both sorts, the various religious denominations and
other local places of worship can be found on the first two links on the right. The
pages have some duplication, but both should be read.